Hot and Cold Water Sound Different — And Science Says Your Ears Can Tell

A new YouTube video drops some serious knowledge on us because it explains that we can hear the difference between cold and hot water.

The simple answer is that water's thickness, or viscosity, goes down as it gets hotter. We'll leave the science-y mumbo jumbo to the video, but we will say it's a pretty cool thing to know and clearly a fun experiment to try when you get stuck talking to someone you don't know at a cocktail party.

As far as practical application, we could see this coming in handy when, say, you open your eyes in bed at 11 a.m. and realize your fed-up mother is running the faucet into a bucket to toss on you in the hopes of getting your lazy butt up. At least you'll know whether to brace yourself for a cold or hot shower (and, yes, if your mom is throwing hot water on you, that's simply wrong).